# Creative Controls

> Creative Controls are picker nodes that add tested wording for light, camera, motion, effects, music and voice to your prompts, at no credit cost.

Source: https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls

**Creative Controls** are picker nodes that describe one part of a shot or a sound with tested wording. Each picker covers one thing, such as the light, the camera move, an effect, a music genre or a voice. You choose an option from the picker's catalog and connect the picker to a generation node. When that node runs, Nodaro adds the matching words to its prompt. Pickers never call a model, so they cost no credits.

## How pickers work

- **A picker holds a choice.** It has one output and no model. Its settings panel shows the catalog as a grid of tiles.
- **The wording goes to the end of the prompt.** When the connected node runs, each picker's words are added after your prompt.
- **Change the picker, not the prompt.** To try another light or another camera move, change the picker and run the node again.
- **One picker can feed many nodes.** Connect one Lighting picker to every shot of a scene to keep the same light.
- **Many pickers can feed one node.** A Generate Image node can take a Lighting, a Color / Look and a Mood picker at the same time.

Workflow: The same Lighting picker feeds the image and the video, so both share one light. Camera Motion feeds only the video.

- Text → Generate Image (prompt)
- Lighting → Generate Image (look)
- Atmosphere → Generate Image (look)
- Generate Image → Generate Video (start frame)
- Lighting → Generate Video (look)
- Camera Motion → Generate Video (look)

## Where to find them

Press Tab on the canvas to open the node picker. On the **Image**, **Video** and **Audio** tabs, a collapsed **Creative Controls** block sits at the foot of the list. Click it to show the families. The **Music & Voice** family appears only on the **Audio** tab. The sidebar also has a **Creative Controls** section with every picker.

You can also start from the generation node. Click its **Look** or **Elements** input, and the list shows only the pickers that fit that input.

## Which input to connect

| Input | On these nodes | Accepts |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Look** | [Generate Image](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/image/generate-image), [Generate Video](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/video/generate-video), [Generate Video Pro](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/video/generate-video-pro), [Retake Video](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/video/retake-video) | Light & Look, Camera, Motion & Time and Effects pickers, and the Scene pickers Setting, Era / Period, Backdrop and Loop Subject |
| **Elements** | Generate Image, Generate Video | Subject and Wardrobe & Pose pickers, and the Scene pickers Furniture, Held Prop and Material |
| **Audio style** | [Suno Create Music](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/audio/suno-create-music), [Generate Music](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/audio/generate-music), [Text to Audio](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/audio/text-to-audio), [Voice Design](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/audio/voice-design) | Music & Voice pickers. The music pickers are for the music nodes and Text to Audio; the voice pickers are for Voice Design. |

You can also connect any picker to a [Text](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/automate/text) or [Prompt](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/automate/prompt) node to use its wording inside a longer text.

### Pickers for video only

Five pickers describe movement over time: [Camera Motion](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/camera-motion), [Temporal](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/temporal), [Transition](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/transition), [Character FX](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/character-fx) and [Character Motion](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/character-motion). They work only with video nodes. Still-image nodes, such as Generate Image and [Modify Image](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/image/modify-image), never receive their wording, and the Look input of Generate Image does not offer them.

## Full or Compact

Every catalog picker can add its choice in two ways:

| Mode | What it adds | Use it when |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Full** (default) | A longer description of the choice, written for models that respond to plain sentences | The model needs more to work with, or the picker is the only look control |
| **Compact** | Only the short professional term, the words a film crew would use | Many pickers feed one node, or the model already knows the term |

Switch the mode with the **Prompt hint** toggle. It sits at the top of the node when you point at it or select it, and beside the preview in the settings panel. The mode is saved on the node, so it stays when you copy the node, save it in a [preset](https://nodaro.ai/docs/concepts/presets) or export the workflow.

Two pickers combine other pickers into one sentence: [Camera Motion](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/camera-motion) and [Transition](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/transition), through their **Start state** and **End state** inputs. When one of them is set to **Compact**, the pickers wired into those inputs switch to Compact too, so the sentence keeps one level of detail. A wired picker keeps its own mode if you have set its toggle, even to Full.

[Transition](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/transition) is the one exception to the two modes. It always writes the transition's name followed by its full description, because video models did not perform a transition from its name alone.

## Add your own words

Every catalog picker has two free-text fields in its settings panel. **Custom text (before)** is added before the picker's wording, and **Custom text (after)** is added after it. Use them for a detail the catalog does not have, for example `wet hair, covered in paint`. Both fields are added in Full and Compact mode, and an empty field adds nothing.

## See the exact words

Each picker node has three display modes: **Picks** shows your choice, **Prompt** shows the words it will add, and **Both** shows the two. The settings panel shows the same words under **Will inject into prompt**, with a button to copy them.

## Pictures: real renders or illustrations

On Nodaro Cloud, the look pickers show each option as a real render: the same base frame put through that option. Camera Motion shows a short clip that plays over its still.

- **Switch between the two.** Camera Motion, Color / Look, Style, Lens, Lighting, Atmosphere, Camera / Film Stock, Framing and Mood also have drawn illustrations. The illustration of Mood is an emoji. A switch beside the selected option (film for real, pen for illustration) changes the pictures on the node and in the settings panel. The switch never changes the prompt.
- **Render only.** Era / Period and Composition Effects have no illustrations, so they always show the render.
- **Self-hosted installs** have no renders. They show the illustrations and do not offer the switch.
- **Other pictures.** Person, Styling, Held Prop, Material and Animal show photos, and the music and voice pickers show their own art, on every edition.

The choice is saved on the node. Nodaro also remembers your last choice for each picker type in your browser and uses it for the next node of that type.

## The eight families

| Family | Pickers | What they control |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Subject** | [Person](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/person), [Animal](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/animal), [Vehicle](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/vehicle), [Weapon](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/weapon) | Who or what is in the shot |
| **Wardrobe & Pose** | [Styling](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/styling), [Pose](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/pose) | Makeup, accessories, hair and fabric, and how the body is held |
| **Scene** | [Setting](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/setting), [Era / Period](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/era), [Furniture](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/furniture), [Held Prop](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/held-prop), [Material](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/material), [Backdrop](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/backdrop), [Loop Subject](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/loop-subject) | Where and when the shot happens, and the objects in it |
| **Camera** | [Framing](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/framing), [Lens](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/lens), [Camera / Film Stock](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/camera-format), [Exposure Settings](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/exposure-settings) | Shot size, angle, lens, recording medium and exposure |
| **Light & Look** | [Lighting](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/lighting), [Color / Look](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/color-look), [Mood](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/mood), [Atmosphere](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/atmosphere), [Style](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/style), [Photo Genre](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/photo-genre), [Photographer / Artist Style](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/photographer), [Render Quality](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/render-quality), [Aesthetic / Microtrend](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/aesthetic) | Light, color grade, emotion, weather and the overall visual style |
| **Motion & Time** | [Camera Motion](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/camera-motion), [Temporal](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/temporal), [Character Motion](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/character-motion) | How the camera moves, how time flows and what the subject does |
| **Effects** | [Action FX](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/action-fx), [Character FX](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/character-fx), [Composition Effects](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/composition-effects), [Post-Process Effects](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/post-process-effects), [Transition](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/transition) | Events in the scene, changes to a character, frame tricks, finishing effects and transitions |
| **Music & Voice** | [Music Genre](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/music-genre), [Music Mood](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/music-mood), [Instrumentation](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/instrumentation), [Voice Character](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/voice-character), [Voice Delivery](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/voice-delivery), [Suno Voice](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/suno-voice) | The genre, feel and instruments of music, and the sound of a voice |

## Which picker for which goal

| You want to | Use |
| --- | --- |
| Describe a person's age, face, hair and build | [Person](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/person) |
| Add an animal, a vehicle or a weapon to the shot | [Animal](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/animal), [Vehicle](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/vehicle), [Weapon](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/weapon) |
| Dress a character: makeup, glasses, hats, jewelry, fabric | [Styling](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/styling) |
| Set one held body position | [Pose](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/pose) |
| Place the scene somewhere, or in a period | [Setting](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/setting), [Era / Period](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/era) |
| Put the subject in front of a studio backdrop | [Backdrop](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/backdrop) |
| Add furniture, an object in the hand, or a material such as glass or gold | [Furniture](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/furniture), [Held Prop](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/held-prop), [Material](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/material) |
| Make a seamlessly looping video subject | [Loop Subject](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/loop-subject) |
| Choose the shot size and the camera angle | [Framing](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/framing) |
| Choose the lens or the film camera | [Lens](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/lens), [Camera / Film Stock](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/camera-format) |
| Set the aperture, the shutter speed and the ISO | [Exposure Settings](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/exposure-settings) |
| Set the time of day and the light | [Lighting](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/lighting) |
| Grade the colors like a film stock or a social filter | [Color / Look](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/color-look) |
| Give a face or a scene an emotion | [Mood](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/mood) |
| Add fog, rain, snow, smoke or dust in the air | [Atmosphere](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/atmosphere) |
| Turn the image into anime, oil paint or pixel art | [Style](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/style) |
| Make the image read as a selfie, a headshot or a movie poster | [Photo Genre](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/photo-genre) |
| Borrow the signature of a photographer or an illustrator | [Photographer / Artist Style](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/photographer) |
| Push a 3D render look | [Render Quality](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/render-quality) |
| Match an online aesthetic, such as Y2K or Cottagecore | [Aesthetic / Microtrend](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/aesthetic) |
| Move the camera in a video | [Camera Motion](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/camera-motion) |
| Use slow motion, a time-lapse or a freeze frame | [Temporal](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/temporal) |
| Make a character walk in, wave, dance or fight | [Character Motion](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/character-motion) |
| Add an explosion, lightning or an earthquake | [Action FX](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/action-fx) |
| Transform a character or give it a power | [Character FX](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/character-fx) |
| Make the subject break out of the frame or dissolve into pixels | [Composition Effects](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/composition-effects) |
| Add film grain, a vignette or a light leak | [Post-Process Effects](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/post-process-effects) |
| Change scenes inside one clip | [Transition](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/transition) |
| Set the genre, the feel or the instruments of a song | [Music Genre](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/music-genre), [Music Mood](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/music-mood), [Instrumentation](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/instrumentation) |
| Describe a new voice and how it speaks | [Voice Character](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/voice-character), [Voice Delivery](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/voice-delivery) |
| Sing a Suno song in your own voice | [Suno Voice](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/suno-voice) |

To copy the look of an existing image into pickers, use [Describe to Picker](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/image/describe-to-picker). It reads an image and fills the Person, Styling, Framing, Lens and Camera / Film Stock pickers you connect to it.

## From the API

Every picker catalog is also available to developers. They can list the options with `GET /v1/picker-catalogs`, and send picker ids in the `direction` field of `POST /v1/generate-image` and `POST /v1/generate-video`. Nodaro then writes the matching words into the prompt. See [Picker catalogs](https://nodaro.ai/docs/developers/picker-catalogs).

## Every picker

Each card links to the picker's page, with every option it offers.

- [Person](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/person) (Subject)
- [Animal](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/animal) (Subject)
- [Vehicle](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/vehicle) (Subject)
- [Weapon](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/weapon) (Subject)
- [Styling](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/styling) (Wardrobe & Pose)
- [Pose](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/pose) (Wardrobe & Pose)
- [Setting](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/setting) (Scene)
- [Era / Period](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/era) (Scene)
- [Furniture](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/furniture) (Scene)
- [Held Prop](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/held-prop) (Scene)
- [Material](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/material) (Scene)
- [Backdrop](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/backdrop) (Scene)
- [Loop Subject](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/loop-subject) (Scene)
- [Framing](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/framing) (Camera)
- [Lens](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/lens) (Camera)
- [Camera / Film Stock](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/camera-format) (Camera)
- [Exposure Settings](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/exposure-settings) (Camera)
- [Lighting](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/lighting) (Light & Look)
- [Color / Look](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/color-look) (Light & Look)
- [Mood](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/mood) (Light & Look)
- [Atmosphere](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/atmosphere) (Light & Look)
- [Style](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/style) (Light & Look)
- [Photo Genre](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/photo-genre) (Light & Look)
- [Photographer / Artist Style](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/photographer) (Light & Look)
- [Render Quality](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/render-quality) (Light & Look)
- [Aesthetic / Microtrend](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/aesthetic) (Light & Look)
- [Camera Motion](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/camera-motion) (Motion & Time)
- [Temporal](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/temporal) (Motion & Time)
- [Character Motion](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/character-motion) (Motion & Time)
- [Action FX](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/action-fx) (Effects)
- [Character FX](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/character-fx) (Effects)
- [Composition Effects](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/composition-effects) (Effects)
- [Post-Process Effects](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/post-process-effects) (Effects)
- [Transition](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/transition) (Effects)
- [Music Genre](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/music-genre) (Music & Voice)
- [Music Mood](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/music-mood) (Music & Voice)
- [Instrumentation](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/instrumentation) (Music & Voice)
- [Voice Character](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/voice-character) (Music & Voice)
- [Voice Delivery](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/voice-delivery) (Music & Voice)
- [Suno Voice](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/suno-voice) (Music & Voice)

## Frequently asked questions

### What are Creative Controls in Nodaro?

Creative Controls are picker nodes. Each one holds a choice from a catalog, such as a lighting setup, a camera move or a music genre, and adds tested wording for that choice to the prompt of the nodes you connect it to.

### Do pickers cost credits?

No. A picker never calls a model, so it costs nothing. You pay only for the generation node that uses its wording. The one exception in this section is Suno Voice, which creates a voice persona once.

### Which input do I connect a picker to?

Light, camera, motion and effect pickers go into the Look input of Generate Image or Generate Video. Subject, wardrobe and pose pickers go into the Elements input. Music and voice pickers go into the Audio style input of the audio nodes.

### Why can't I connect Camera Motion to Generate Image?

Camera Motion, Temporal, Transition, Character FX and Character Motion describe movement over time, so they work only with video nodes. Still-image nodes never receive their wording.

### Why do my picker tiles show drawings instead of photos?

Real renders of each option are a Nodaro Cloud feature. Self-hosted installs show drawn illustrations instead. On Nodaro Cloud you can switch a picker between renders and illustrations; the prompt stays the same.